(first posted 11/10/2012) It was 1969, and the B-bodies from the Dodge Boys were making some big waves. Dodge Charger 500s were tearing up NASCAR’s short tracks. Bewinged Charger Daytonas had broken 200 mph on super-speedways. Coronet-derived Super Bees terrorized empty stretches of highway in the wee hours of the weekend. So how was Chrysler able to finance all that Saturday & Sunday excess? By selling a lot of Coronet 440s on Monday, that’s how.

First, a few notes on Mopar nomenclature: For 1969, all Dodge passenger cars fell into one of three categories: The compact A-body (Dart); full-size C-body (Polara/Monaco); and the midsize Coronet and Charger B-bodies. Although various trim levels and option packages created a hierarchy within each category, today we’ll concentrate on those specific to the B-bodies. The Charger was available in base, R/T, or SE/500 trim (which technically included the Charger Daytona), and the Coronet was available in Deluxe trim (which included the Super Bee) as well as 440, 500, and R/T option levels. Got that? All right, now on to the engines:

The 1969 Coronet offered seven engine choices, starting with the base Slant Six. From there, however, it was all V8, from the small-block “LA” 318 (not to be confused with the earlier polyspherical 318) and big-block 383 and 440 “B” engines, all the way up to the big Kahuna 426 Hemi.

Quite confusingly, Dodge nomenclature included both a 440 engine and a Coronet 440 trim level, although the two were mutually exclusive: A Coronet in 440 trim could not be had with 440 cu.in under its hood. The largest engine available for the Coronet 440 trim level was the 383 cu in V8 in two- or four-barrel guise. The Magnum 383 was restricted to Super Bee, and the Magnum 440 to the R/T.

With all of that out of the way, we can focus on the Coronet at hand. It’s equipped, as most were, with an LA-series 318 cu in engine sending 230 hp and 340 lb-ft. of torque through a TorqueFlite transmission, in this case the A904 (light-duty) version. Sales figures indicate that this was the most common engine/transmission combination for Coronet 440s, and it’s not hard to figure out why: Since their introductions, both the “new” 318 and A904 had proven themselves to be stout and reliable power train components (both have long since achieved “cockroach” status among Mopar enthusiasts because they simply refuse to die).

A sterling power train, however, is not enough to keep a fairly pedestrian ’60s Dodge on the road for close to 45 years. Achieving that kind of longevity takes a little help from the environment. This Coronet appears to have been sold new by Parrish & Clark, in Tulsa, OK. At the time, Parrish & Clark claimed to be Oklahoma’s largest Dodge and Plymouth agency, and also was the co-sponsor of the famous buried 1957 Belvedere. What does all that mean to the survival of vintage tin? Well, Tulsa rarely sees temperatures below freezing and has an average annual snowfall of about nine inches. With little-to-no corrosive salt on the roads and mostly hot & dry conditions, Tulsa has an excellent climate for the preservation of sheet metal. But what are the chances this Coronet spent its entire life in Oklahoma?

Pretty low, it turns out. Note the Colorado “Rockies” license plate in the above photo. At some point, this Coronet made its way across the short stretch of shared CO-OK border, and given the lack of rust there’s a good chance it spent its time in the eastern part of the state. The Rocky Mountains may be Colorado’s defining geographical feature, but the massive rain-shadow desert in the eastern half of the state is much friendlier to cars–dry, dusty and more like ranch land than foothills. Further helping its chances of survival, our feature Coronet was not ordered with a rust-harboring vinyl roof; apparently, the original buyers weren’t suckered in by the Dodge Boys’ White Hat Special. Not that this Coronet was devoid of options: Those hubcaps are the optional “deep-dish” type with a prominent Fratzog in the middle—and all four of them are (amazingly) accounted for.

The handy chart above shows no shortage of available performance and luxury packages for the Coronet, from the infamous “all-engine, no options” Super Bee to the fairly luxurious Coronet 500. The R/T combines performance and luxury, while the cheapskate-special Deluxe covers the very lowest end of the spectrum. If you add up the sales numbers for every Coronet other than the 440, you end up with total production of around 100,000 units. The Charger and its derivatives sold about 70,000 vehicles in 1969, which was down significantly from the previous year. Now, selling 170,000 B-bodies is nothing to sneeze at, but what really helped amortize the tooling costs of all B-body derivatives was the 440 package, which alone represented more than 105,000 sales–that’s over one-third of total B-body sales. Every Dodge dealer in the country may have had a Super Bee and a Charger R/T in the showroom, but they had 10 or 15 Coronet 440s parked out back for customers who weren’t especially concerned about dominating the boulevard at midnight.

Oh yes…what’s that we see in the background mural in the top image? Why, it’s the Road Runner himself, leaning against a 1969 Plymouth Road Runner as both of them look down forever on the humble Coronet 440. Actually, the Road Runner has a connection to the Coronet. Introduced by Plymouth as a bare- bones, B-body muscle car in 1968, it rapidly outsold Dodge’s Coronet R/T, which cost more and was hardly “bare-bones.”

In a typical Mopar inter-divisional squabble, Dodge dealers insisted on a Dodge-badged analog to the Road Runner; thus was the Coronet-derived Super Bee born, in mid-1968. The story of Plymouth’s B-bodies is much the same as Dodge’s, with multiple specialty trim lines spun off the base Satellite. Because virtually all of today’s attention goes to Super Bees, Road Runners, Daytonas and R/Ts, it’s rare to see a Coronet 440 cross the auction block under the lights and TV cameras. Still, make no mistake about it: The lowly 440 trim level helped make the rest of those vehicles possible. And so ends this paean to volume leaders.

Uncle Ralph was a little guy who had a gambling and drinking problem. Aunt Juanita, was a head taller than him and had little tolerance with such buffoonery.

Well, it seems one fateful day during the 1972 Olympics, Ralph made a sizable bet with a local hoodlum about the outcome of the women’s gymnastics competition. Ralph should have known to not bet on the South African team as they were so new. As history can now show us, Ralph lost in Walter Mondale style.

When Juanita found out, she grabbed hold of Ralph by the shirt collar, about ready to work him over. He was wiry and escaped, climbing up a tree in his stupor, the tree beneath which their Dodge was parked, to avoid the Wrath of Juanita. She stood out there telling Ralph she would wait for him. At that moment, the tree branch were Ralph had planted himself collapsed.

Ralph was heavily disciplined by Juanita. When she was finished, and Ralph had the clean up the tree debris, Juanita found this dent. It was then Ugly Scene, Part II.

That’s why I said “usually (except Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth & AMC) BOF…” I’m well aware that Chrysler was the only major manufacturer to go unit body and stick with it. That is why I would love a Charger parked next to this car, they’re two vehicles with very similar missions in the grand scheme of things.

Boy, that Coronet sure looks good to me now. My Dad’s 72 Polara was maybe a shade darker green. Anyhow, I used to know an older fellow (now deceased) who had this exact model Coronet. Same color 4 door sedan with a black cloth and vinyl interior. In about 1988 or so, he could not drive anymore, I used to start it up for him, ran like new. The car had 17K on the clock, never was garaged, cleaned or interior vacuumed. The inside (no rips, except for the dash pad)) smelled like stale cigarettes. The body was not in too bad shape, just faded and tired.

He ended up selling it for $ 150 to a boarder that lived a few doors down. The guy gave him $ 100 down, and moved away before giving him the owed $ 50. Thinking back, that car had a lot of potential. A little bit of elbow grease, that car would have been a nice classic cruiser. I’ll bet I could have got it looking nice in a weekend.

Seems the feature car has been taken care of. The four hubcaps and the clean whitewalls attest to that.

I am not sure how I got through my years of Mopar daily-driver-dom without snagging one of these. The 1966-70 B body was always very attractive to me, and I still occasionally Jones after one of them. This generation of B, along with the 67-76 A body and the 65-68 C body may have been Mopar’s best all-around products since WWII, when factoring in looks, capability, build quality and durability.

The only one of these I ever drove was a yellow and woodgrain 70 Coronet station wagon that was owned by the owner of the Domino’s Pizza store I was a delivery driver for in college. One night, I got my 71 Scamp stuck in a snowbank, and while rocking it out, something in the transmission broke and I lost reverse gear. The owner was partial to old beater Mopars and I got to drive the wagon for a couple of nights. It was equipped with a 383 and was nicknamed “the Rocket Sled.” I thoroughly enjoyed my time in that car.

Loved the 68 round marker lights. One of the iconic industrial designs of the 20th century was the Honeywell thermostat that so many homes have. When the designer was asked why he went with a round unit instead of square or rectangle his response was that a round unit can’t be hung crooked. So simple but so true.

Strangely not all ’69 model year production had the headrests.
I had a early production (8/68) Polara 2 dr hardtop that did not have the headrests. The car was my great-grandmother’s from new, so I know nothing had been altered.

Unlike the other guys,who include them in all MY 1969 product,, Chrysler elected to leave off standard headrests
until Jan 1-69. They were still an option if you wanted them.
Our neighbor was the service manager of the local Chry-Ply dealer, and his new ’69 Fury company car didn’t have them either. As an aside, I remember him coming home one day minus his rear bumper and extension moldings. Apparently his car had to act as a donor for a customer who got rear ended, and the car was too new for parts to be in the pipeline.

My first car was a 68 Plymouth Sport Satellite, White with Red interior, bucket seats with console. Bought it in 1973 for 1000.00 with 23000 on the clock from an older couple who had just bought a 73 Charger. It was a great car that had the trim of the GTX but with just the 318 and an torqueflite on the console which was flat and chrome. The console made for a great bar. The car had PS, PB and factory air but only dog dish wheel covers. I ended up painting the wheels flat black and putting on trim rings to dress that part of it up a little. Unfortunately my dad got rear ended by a truck and though the car was fixed having had 2/3rds of the rear sawed off and replaced it never drove quite right after that. I ended up replacing it with a 71 Fury Gran Coupe (Non-Paisley edition). But still mourn the loss of that satellite.

I currently own my great-grandmother’s 68 Sport Satellite, and I can attest that it is a truly great car. Mine has ~80k miles from new, but it’s a 383 torqueflite car with the column shift and the bucket seats w/ armrest. No console though, sadly. PS, factory air, but mine has the oddball 1 year only Bendix 4 piston disc brakes on it. I love this car and wouldn’t have it any other way! Picture is from ’68 the day she bought it.

This brings a lot of memories because a close family friend’s parent’s had a 1968 Plymouth Satellite with the famous 318 and Torqueflight. I spent a lot of time in that car as a kid and it always seemed to be a really good car. The major problem with it was it rusted even faster than the GM stuff my family drove at the time. I remember about 1974 it was parked in our driveway and just as the mom was driving out, the entire bottom part of the left rear fender fell on ground. On a trip to Ottawa, the fenders were so holy that a bashee-like scream went through the entire car. By 1975 the car was unsafe to drive and was scrapped. One has to give it to the owner that the car lasted that long; seven years in Quebec was a long life for a car but my dad often said he thought it was dangerous to drive it was so full of holes.

On the West Coast as a teenager, there was lots of folklore about the Coronet. Listening to my buddies, you’d think that every one had a 426 hemi in it and I have never actually seen one in captivity. Every one I have ever seen had a 318 in it, especially in car-conservative Canuckistan.

Your last paragraph prompts me to say that back in the day I remember seeing a lot of Dusters, Darts, Road Runners and Coronets on the road. But I remember a lot of accidents fatal and otherwise around Edmonton so it’s no wonder many muscle cars disappeared by the mid-seventies if rust and mechanical ills didn’t send them to the scrapyard first.

I’ve never particularly liked the 1968-69 Coronets. Part of what’s weird is that Chrysler decided to cost cut by sharing the front-door sheetmetal between the Coronet and the Satellite. The result is that the Coronet looks schizoid: The front half is rather plain but the back half has a ribbed design.

In addition, it appears that Chrysler also tried to save money by sharing the inner-door structure of its compact and mid-sized cars. I wouldn’t be surprised if the front windows for a Coronet and Dart are fully interchangeable. Look at how much the Coronet’s fender shoulders bulge out compared to the Dart’s. It’s all useless fat.

We have a winner – BuzzDog. Not really that obscure, given the encyclopedic knowledge here on CC, but one of those weird things I still remember after 40+ years, at the expense of other more relevant things. Now, excuse me while I go off and look for my glasses.

One of the many examples of Chrysler’s schitzoid ways in the 60s. There is a piece on Allpar from a guy who dealt with these at Chrysler. The regulation for 1968 & 69 allowed either lights or reflectors. Chrysler went with lights in round housings, interchangeable between front and back by swapping the lens color, and used on all vehicles. A Chrysler higher-up didn’t like the look of the round ones, and insisted on new ones for 69, that were reflectors only (cheaper), and they were slightly different on different models. Because the reflectors would not meet a 1970 reg that would now require both lights AND reflectors, they had to re-design the parts yet again for the 3rd time in 3 years.
Complete waste of time and money on something that almost nobody would notice. Sadly, this was before Chrysler got REALLY screwed up.

My father had a ’66 Coronet 440 2-door hardtop. We kept it until 1978, then he gave it to my cousin who put 265,000 miles on it before taking it off the road with a shot front end and discovering a waiting list for rebuild pieces due to the popularity of Chargers in the mid ’80s and no internet for tracking them down. The whole time we had it, we thought it had a 318 V8. 318s in 1966 were the old poly-As. My cousin had to dig into the engine at some point and discovered it was actually a 273, which would have been the first of the LAs. For some reason, this was never an issue come maintenance time for us, perhaps because the shops that worked on it just thought it was an LA 318. Even with the little 273, it was at least as quick as his coworker’s ’66 big-block Oldsmobile. I loved that car as a kid. It seemed like they really cheaped out the interiors when the ’68s were introduced, but the dashboard, underdash pull knobs on either side of the steering column to operate the fresh air vents, and seats of our ’66 were really nice.

Neat find. I’d be interested in knowing how it came to be parked in front of the Road Runner mural. Is it some sort of Mopar shop, or was it complete serendipity? An interior shot would be welcome, too.

The car looks great. Looks to be original paint, even. I’d love to know the story of it’s survival.

It isn’t a Mopar shop per se, but the owner is clearly partial to old Hamtramck steel. The location is really a small, family-owned used car dealer, 90% late model stuff, with a small smattering of classics. The 1963 Imperial I wrote up was in the back lot of the same place. I think the Road Runner is just a particular Mopar that the owner likes.

I contacted the owner after the Imperial piece and he had nothing but good things to say, so I’d say he’s OK with the internet exposure. There were a couple other cars in the lot that day that will get an article—one Mopar, and one non-Mopar.

I apologize for the lack of interior shots. When I took these pictures (summer ’12) I wasn’t aware that I would end up writing them up for CC, so I wasn’t following Mr. Niedermeyer’s guidelines for pictures.

For all the Chrysler products I’ve owned, it turned out that they all were A- or C-body cars, and I never had any B-body car. Of course there were always plenty of them around, and it was not totally for lack of trying, as I once was all ready to trade my 1960 Lincoln sedan for a 383-powered 1970 Coronet 440 2-door hardtop that a fellow Mopar fanatic owned, but he ended up deciding against the trade.

My driver’s ed car except for the color. OK, so it was no Charger, but it had a V8 and was fun for a 16 year old. In fact, I liked the car so much that I bought……..a B body of my own years later (I’m not Victor Kiam). A good honest car that served me well for a long time, the automotive equivalent of a friend. Hope this one continues to be well cared for.

The 440 trim level actually predated the 440 engine by several years. I believe the 440 trim was introduced on the downsized ’62s — you had base, 330, and 440 (plus I think a fleet special that was really base). After the downsized cars became the B-body Coronet, the 330 tag was dropped and there was also a plusher Coronet 500. Why they kept the 440 name after that is beyond me.

Maybe the most generic body design ever, but I liked them for all that. My B-body was a ’67 Plymouth Satellite 2-door, tan with red vinyl interior, Torqueflite and the ubiquitous 318. Bought it used around ’74 or so, for $800. Real pretty car and very pleasant to drive, as I recall, for the two years or so I had it.

I will now head off on a strange tangent. I’ve long had the notion that if I were rich as Scrooge McDuck, I would have contracted with NASA to take my old Plymouth up in the Space Shuttle (I believe it would fit neatly in the cargo bay) and release it into orbit as a conceptual art piece. Maybe with a mannequin in a space suit behind the wheel, and a bag of golf clubs propped up in the rear seat. I would call it the “Plymouth Satellite Satellite”.

I spent much of my wild youth behind the wheel of a 68 Coronet 500
It was red with black vinyl top and interior.
I always thought it looked like a Super Bee minus the stripe on the rear deck. In reality it probably had a much nicer interior than a Super Bee would have had.

It also had the same 318-A904 power-train combo as this featured Coronet.
Still a respectfully quick car though, as my claim to fame is beating my buddy and his 69 El Camino with 327 2bbl in a spur of the moment drag race one evening.
Interestingly my brother owned a 67 Coronet sedan at the same time that I owned my Coronet 500.
Truth be told his 67 seemed to be a much better car ,as far as build quality, road noise, and over all solidness.

Had a gold 1969 coronet 440 two door post that I bought new at Reedman (or Reidman) Dodge not far from Philly. Looked to me like a Dodge Roadrunner. I fell in love but it was a typical shortsighted move. I had to sell it when I went to VN that year. Guy I sold it to wrecked it. What a bozo.

That car had a 318 (I would have been happy with a 273 but 68 was the last year they made it) with a torqueflite. Cruised like a dream and I had no complaints. I suspect if I had kept it longer problems would have developed but I didn’t so I can still use the rose colored glasses. I thought that plymouth and dodge made the best looking cars of them all during 68-69. Would love to have a new one today.

A strikingly handsome mid-sizer. Looked especially good with the 1970 split grille. After that it was all downhill style-wise. But they were some of the sturdiest Mopars built. My aunt Yvonne had a white 440 sedan that gave her 12 years of great service. She gave the car to my uncle on a whim, because she wanted a Monte Carlo.

I actually did have (and still do have) an Uncle Ed who had a ’69 Coronet… except it was a Coronet Super Bee, and it had a 426 Hemi (!!!) and 4-speed installed at the factory. That made it a 1 of 100 or something car (the 440 V8 was much more common) but when he got to it sometime in the late 1970’s, the Hemi had disappeared and had been replaced by a still very hot 383. No one is sure what the story was with that car, whether or not it had donated it’s guts to some dragster project or something – but I would bet it was a stolen recovery (stealing cars was all the rage in NYC in the 70’s) and the motor was stripped and sold somewhere on the craigslist black market of the day.

I was really young when this car was still roadworthy (more on that in a minute), but I’m pretty sure the few times I rode in it made me an addict for life. The sound, the smell, the ridiculous amount of force pushing me forward… I can distinctly remember the smell of burnt rubber and my mom screaming next to me (it had a bench seat!!)

Anyway, eventually something-or-other went wrong with this car and it ended up parked in my grandmother’s backyard. I don’t know if my uncle planned on fixing it eventually or if he just wanted to unload it sometime down the road knowing it’s rarity and potential value, but it sat and sat and sat. When I was old enough to almost have a driver’s license, the Super Bee was withered and weary but still solid and easily fix-up-able. I begged and begged him to sell it to me but he wouldn’t part with it. He moved to Florida soon after and the car still sits there til this day. Last time I saw it was after my grandmother died two years ago and we were cleaning out the house. At this point, it’s so rusty and sunken into the ground that it will probably snap in half when my cousin, who inherited the house, has it towed out of there. What a shame…

It might just be due to my bias, having had a long standing fascination with that particular Super Bee, but I’ve always thought the ’69 Coronet to be an amazingly good looking car. Very simple, clean lines and uncluttered, purposeful styling touches everywhere you look. The color on this one is oh so “Mopar-y” and the wheel covers are great. Nice find! I can’t even remember the last time I saw a late 60’s 4-door Dodge…

A brown ’69 Coronet sedan (probably a 440 given the production numbers cited) was our driver’s ed car in high school in the summer of 1969. This was still back when local dealers would loan new cars to schools as rolling advertisements. No beaters then!

When I was a kid my uncle had a white 69 Coronet 440. He used to give me a ride in it once in a while. He said that people were constantly asking him if it was for sale because they thought it had a 440 in it (it was a 318)

This is one of the rare cars that looks good in both 2 door and 4 door guise. One of my favourites…

I don’t know why, but the front of the featured green car reminds me of the same year AMC Rebel. Those Fratzog wheelcovers are one of my favorite Pentastar wheelcovers — I remember the ’68 Charger in Bullitt lost about six of them in “The” Chase 🙂

I would have loved to have met the mind that came up with both the name Fratzog and the symbol design itself. Love..

The 1969 Coronet 2-door (specifically, Super Bee) is one of my favorite sixties’ cars. Besides being a better looking car than the Roadrunner, the Super Bee got the better Charger dash with a proper location for a tachometer (although it was an extra-cost option).

FWIW, from what I’ve read, Dodge did not ‘insist’ on a Roadrunner. Rather, many within the corporation didn’t think the Roadrunner would sell all that well. Original sales forecasts for the 1968 Roadrunner were for a modest 4,000 units and they ended up building over ten times that amount.

So, when the build punch cards that were used to specify equipment for a specific model were being created, Dodge was asked if they wanted a duplicate set created at the same time for a Dodge version of the Roadrunner. They declined. This decision wasn’t to be taken lightly as it would take a significant amount of time to duplicate the cards for a Dodge version later and a big reason why the Super Bee trailed the Roadrunner to market once it became apparent to everyone at Chrysler that the car was a hit.

Green 4-door sedan base V-8 and automatic. This probably survived because it was a grandma or grandpa car. The B-body in my family was very similar, a turquoise ’65 Belvedere II 4-door sedan with the poly 318 and Torqueflite. It was grandpa’s last car.

BTW, that 230hp gross rating on the LA 318 translates into 177hp net, according to the data plate on my brother’s ’69 Sportsman van. It, however, was paired with the 727 HD Torqueflite, as was the 140hp net 273 in my A-100.

This was my first car and it was in the green color shown above. It was smashed in on one side but it ran. It was terrible when it was wet out. I worked at a place on a beach and everytime I tried to start it after work the salt air from the ocean would always cause a problem. I kept a can of wire dry and starter fluid in the trunk at all times. It had great pick up and if you put it to the floor you would swear that the engine was going to jump out of the hood. I was constantly tinkering with the carb. Ahhh the good old days!!

We had a ’69 Coronet 440 wagon, green; I learned to drive with this car. Dad owned a metal shop, and along with all the hauling that entailed, he was the family ‘handy man’ with his tools spending a good deal of their time bouncing around in the back; this Coronet took one heck of a beating. What it lacked in glamor, it compensated with power. This baby had it all: Acceleration, torque, horsepower, speed; I particularly basked in the look of sheer stunned fear as my 440 overtook, passed, and left in the dust many a racing adversary those hot New Jersey nights. Nothing but fond memories of this car… cheers!

My next door neighbor had a Coronet that looked pretty much identical to the featured car, color and everything….bought new in 1969…..Unfortunately, car was totaled in an accident when it was only a few months old.

I’m a child of the ’60s and for whatever reason there were almost NO MoPars in my subdivision or among my parents’ friends. Lots of GM, some FoMoCo and some oddball imports. One neighbor had a fuselage Dodge of some sort in the early 70s and one bought a Volare station wagon, and that was it.

There was a Dodge store nearby and a Chrysler-Plymouth 2 blocks from there, but I just don’t recall seeing/riding in many. I’ve ridden in more AMCs and even Studebakers than MoPar products, if you can believe that.

My very thrifty German Uncle Carl owned one just like pictured, but in medium metallic blue with a black vinyl roof. My own dad, a thrifty Chevy owner would scoff at Carl’s cheapness, yet himself drove a brown sh_tbox stripper 1965 Nova.

Uncle Carl’s garage-kept Coronet was the beneficiary of a daily wipe down and vacuuming…he was fastidious in a very German sort of way. The seats were covered by clear plastic covers, and even well past ten years old, that Coronet looked better than new. It was the first Dodge I ever rode in. I remember very clearly being impressed with how business-like the 318 sounded, and how quickly the 904 snapped off shifts. It seemed superior to my dad’s Powerglide Nova in every way. I also noticed how unique the fender mounted amber directional indicators were.

In 1982, Uncle Carl, in a fit of fuel-price inspired paranoia, traded his pristine Coronet for a new Ford Escort Wagon….rental red with a manual transmission. From that point forward, he somewhat lost interest in his daily routine of car detailing. I think I know why…..

Handsome car, even in that ubiquitous green. It’s successor was a let down, especially after a few years of Federalizing and cost cutting in the early ’70s. One of the few Mopar families I knew had a well equipped Plymouth version, and doubled down on the green – dark green lower body and lighter green vinyl top.

To elaborate further on my earlier post (from four years ago) on liking the ’69 Coronet the best of the series, the styling just ‘clicked’ everywhere, particularly with the Super Bee. While most of them got those big, hoary quarter panel decals, they could be deleted from the factory. Likewise, the ‘Ramcharger’ dual hood scoops looked great, and while technically functional , about all they really did was just let more engine noise into the interior. I’d have taken the hood scoops over the standard hood bulge, but would have skipped the obviously fake quarter panel scoops with the quarter panel decals, too.

The point being, the 1969 Super Bee, optioned properly, was the epitome of the businesslike, purposeful musclecar, quite unlike the Road Runner, a car some some characterized at the time, with its Warner Bros. decals (which Chrysler chief stylist Dick MacAdam actually tried to keep off the car) as the ultimate ‘put-on’. It makes sense, too, since Dodge’s market focus was more towards Pontiac, while Plymouth was a lowest-tier brand up against Ford and Chevy. Unfortunately, the Super Bee never came close to selling as well as the Road Runner which, for one glorious year (1969), was the number one selling musclecar, ahead of the Chevelle SS396 and the GTO which, for the first time since its introduction, was third.

Although the Six-Pack version of the Super Bee (with its wild, fiberglass, lift-off hood that had one of the biggest functional scoops ever put on a production car) was one of the fastest, affordable street machines ever built, I’d be more inclined to just stick with a much more sedate, easier to keep in tune (but still quite serious) regular 383 Magnum car.

In short, if I were limited to just one Mopar in a collection, it might be a ’69 Super Bee. It’s definitely in my top five favorite Mopars of all time.

I liked the more “muscular” versions of the B-Body, and thought (And still do) that the four door, badly colored versions, like the one pictured above were kind of sad. I rode in a 2dr ’68 Coronet 440 383 4 barrel car once in a while, black with no vinyl top, a rarity back then, that a friend’s dad had for many years until it was just a rusty mess. He drives a 300C now, in TorRed, and he loves it. He misses the old car for it’s looks. The new car is ok looking, but I liked the look of the old cars better, as he does. He says the 300 is his last car, but he’s got the money and says he likes the Challenger, so who knows?

Yeah, for some reason, the Plymouth Satellite/Belvedere 4-door sedans come off better looking than the Coronet versions. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say the Plymouth pillared coupes are better, too. It’s just the Coronet hardtop that gets the nod.

The 1970 Coronet, with its version of an angry 1961 Plymouth front end, wasn’t so great, either. I’ve always maintained that the reason for the strange look was directly related to Chrysler needing front fenders that could accommodate the NASCAR aero nose cone. Originally, the 1970 wing car was going to be another Dodge Daytona, but due to Petty needing a Plymouth, they had to put the 1970 Coronet fenders and hood on a Road Runner to make the Superbird.